Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius Moving to Establish Direct Ties with the Netherlands

Bonaire---Oct. 4, 2006----They have no comprehension of the “jealous” feelings reigning on sister islands Curaçao and St. Maarten. Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius are going ahead to realise direct ties with the Netherlands. Their goal: creating a better life for their citizens, with or without the bigger islands.

Bonaire’s Commissioner Reginald “Yonchi” Dortalina said the trajectory of the smaller islands and that of Curaçao and St. Maarten, which are seeking country status within the Kingdom, were “totally different.”

“It is not fair. You always hear that we are ballast. Now that we want to go, they want to hold on to us. Let us go. If you hold on to me and help me, I could agree, but if I have financial problems and you don’t help me, then you have to let me go to the one that can help,” Dortalina said.

Saba’s Commissioner Will Johnson said Curaçao and St. Maarten were “deceiving themselves.” Instead of seeing the smaller islands as a threat, they should see them as an example, he said.

Johnson implied that the constitutional process had been St. Maarten’s agenda with that island being the first to have a referendum in 2000. “They more or less forced us to have a referendum. St. Maarten has been leaning back on everybody to get separate status for them,” he said after the bilateral talks with the Dutch Government in Bonaire Tuesday.

Statia’s Commissioner Roy Hooker said he was taking no heed of jealousy statements. “They (Curaçao and St. Maarten, ed.) have been traitors to the smaller islands. It was the two more economically stable islands who pong on their chest. They cut us off, threw us to the dogs and said find your way,” he said.

Hooker said the smaller islands were now finding their way. He said it was not right for Curaçao and St. Maarten, which he said had so many resources, to put their “failures at the door” of the smaller islands.

“We are suffering up to now because of what they are doing. We need a solution and when we go to them, there is no solution to be had. They don’t think about the smaller islands. They only think about themselves,” he said. Hooker said that if they had to drag the Netherlands to the table “kicking and screaming” to assist, they would do so.

The smaller islands have been suffering, and that is why they decided to “take the bull by the horns” and to directly approach the Netherlands, said Johnson. “After all, we are responsible to our people to look after their needs. Curaçao and St. Maarten have to solve the problems for themselves. We can’t wait any longer,” he said, adding that they had already been waiting since St. Maarten’s referendum.

Johnson said the smaller islands had already had a “negative experience” when Aruba left the Antillean constellation in 1986 and the smaller islands became dependent on the Solidarity Fund, a system that had not worked properly and had never been formalised. “What they expect us to do? Our people’s wish is direct ties. That is what we are working out,” he said.

The Netherlands, said Johnson, has been “reluctant” in assuming its responsibilities, as stated in the Charter, to tap the Central Government on its fingers and tell Willemstad it hasn’t been “acting correctly” where it comes to the needs of the smaller islands. “We know and we see that a lot of money is being spent, wasted in Curaçao. All we are asking for is equal treatment,” he said.

Johnson questioned how NAf. 2 million of the Telecommunications Bureau could have been given to University of the Netherlands Antilles (UNA) as a gift, while the Central Government only lent Saba money, charging interest, so the island could pay its medical bills and its civil servants’ vacation allowances. He said the Minister of Finance also hadn’t cooperated in solving the issue of the Solidarity Fund.

According to Hooker, members of the Antillean Council of Ministers have been thinking “insular” lately, looking out only for the interest of their island, and with the majority of the ministers coming from Curaçao, the Central Government has gotten an “insular feel.”

Dortalina said Curaçao and St. Maarten had an example to work with: Aruba. The smaller islands, however, have to work on realising a new concept. “We have to create the direct ties that now don’t exist. That means we have to move fast to keep up so we can be ready for the others,” he said, referring to the target date of July 2007 to realise new relations in the Kingdom.

Bonaire Island Council member Ramoncito Booi (UPB) said especially Curaçao had no right to complain. He said Curaçao was “already the Netherlands Antilles” with the “political force” being there. “They should not be in a hurry,” he said, implying that a new status would have more disadvantages than advantages.

“We have a problem with the Antillean political structure and a Curaçao that is not taking care of our problems. We have to look for other solutions and fast. The Netherlands ultimately is responsible for us and we are holding it to that,” said Booi.